Chocolate Air...

I am an eighth grade language arts/social studies teacher in Ohio. I started this blog to keep track of all the great books I read so I could share them with my students. I now use this blog in class for book talks so my students can keep up to date on the world of books that I so dearly love. It is my hopes that this blog will continue to be a source of exciting book finds for my current and former students to explore. Send me your comments! I look forward to hearing from you!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Legend by Marie Lu is a dystopian book like The Hunger Games and Divergent. This book takes place in the future where everything is different. The Colonies and Republic are at war while a raging plague is all over the area. The characters are June Iparis, a Republic prodigy, and Day Wing, a criminal legend. June is trying to find Day to take revenge for her brother's death, but a twist happens sending them on their journey.

For me, this book is amazing! I think the book was written well and had great details. I love that the book is set in the future so I can see the things that have changed. The characters are strong and powerful in this book, and that's another reason I like it. I am recommending this book because it is a great read. The reader gets to see into the minds of two people. It's very interesting to see two completely different lives intertwine to make the story.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The illustrator of the popular Frankie Pickle series makes a return in a new series authored by Kate Egan and Magician Mike Lane. The Magic Shop series looks to be a promising one for budding magicians and readers alike.

In The Vanishing Coin (Book One), fourth grader Mike is having no luck in school. He finds himself in the office continuously because he cannot sit still in class. It's so bad that his parents won't let Mike play soccer. Fourth grade is not looking so great.

Mike and Nora, a neighbor, stumble upon a quaint shop called the White Rabbit. Part magic store, Mike meets Mr. Zerlin and is in for a magical transformation.

Not only will readers enjoy Mike's story, they will also learn some secrets to magic tricks included in the book. My students had a fun time with "Can you cut a hole in this paper big enough to walk through?"

Monday, April 14, 2014

Last Friday, each sixth grader received a paper with a squiggle. A squiggle is nothing more than a random scribble that the students then turned into a picture or symbol about the book they were currently reading. (I use a resource book called Squiggles: So Much Writing, So Much Fun, So Much Creativity by Patricia Pavelka. Honestly, though, a simple scribble on a blank sheet of paper would work just as well.)

The squiggle that the students used on Friday can be seen in most of the pictures below as two bold lines. After the students finished their illustration, each reader had a chance to share it with the class giving a quick book commercial at the same time. Not only did we see amazing creativity, we put some new books on our TBR lists as well!